Modern Fairy Tale
by multifandommayhem
Summary: Dan is forced by his mother everyday to talk to a possible future wife and he feels hopeless to finding the one.


"Daniel, that's the fourth girl today" his mother said to him, looking annoyed.  
"I'm sorry, Mom, I just don't like any of these girls" he replied, playing with one of the buttons on his plaid red shirt.  
"Hopefully the next girl will be more your taste." she said and walked out.  
Dan was the victim of an arranged marriage that his mother had insisted on when he was born into such a rich family; they had servants, a huge house, and enough money to buy everything they could ever want and still have enough money to donate to 4 different charities.  
Since everything was done the old fashioned way and Dan was the first-born son, he's a big deal to all of his family; being married wasn't even a choice when he turned 18.  
They had an extravagant kitchen and an even bigger parlor that parties were thrown in; on the night that Dan would propose to the girl he chose, there would be a big party in celebration when she said 'yes'. 'No' wasn't even a question, every girl loved Dan.  
He sat on his bed with crossed legs as he tossed a rubber band ball from hand to hand and talked one of the servants that cleaned his room:  
"You have permission to speak freely" Dan rolled his eyes and continued, "Do you ever think I'll find a girl?"  
Tamara looked up from her work, "Of course, Mister. Ain't even a question."  
"You can just call me Dan."  
"If you says so."  
"What if I don't?" he squeaked.  
"Now, I ain't suppose' to tell you this." she said, lowering her voice, "but you can be with someone besides a lady."  
Dan raised a thin, brown, eyebrows, "What?"  
"Plenty of mens are getting married now, no lady needed." she smiled  
Dan thought of the idea as interesting, he was born into a very Christian family that thought being gay was wrong.  
"Isn't that wrong?" he urged.  
"Just became legal here, but it wadn't wrong before." she said, feeling smarter than Dan for once.  
Dan felt like a little kid, asking all the questions about things his mother didn't find important when getting a private tutor for Dan. 'Don't worry about the peculiar things,' his mother would say to the tutor during life lessons, 'He doesn't need to know about that.'  
Dan got up from his bed and immediately went to the skinny 6'3" he was. He wrapped his arms around Tamara who was a tiny 5'3" and almost lifted her up. She let out a small laugh,  
"Ooh, Mister, you so tall!" she squealed and he put her down.  
"I don't want to be late." he said and Tamara told him not to tell anybody what she had said.  
Dan sat in the big living room, fondling his thumbs and fixed his side-swept fringe to look neater. Bookshelves covered every wall and they were the same wood as the flooring which was mostly covered by blue couch in the center with a fireplace in front. Dan knew the routine: he would sit on the couch with the girl and talk to them for however long he wanted to, but no girl lasted longer than 10 minutes.  
After 4 minutes of fondling his fingers a girl walked in and sat across from Henry on the floor. Her green sundress laid out around her, like a perfect circle drawn with chalk. She had long, curly hair that was blonde and eyes that were the color of dark coffee.  
"Hi" she said, not matching the nervous yet excited tone of every other girl who had met Dan.  
"Hi." he replied, trying to see what was different about the girl.  
She played with the sunflower in her hair as she spoke, "I'm Carrie."  
She tucked a strand of hair behind her left ear and spoke again, "Your name is Dan, right?"  
"Yes" he replied,  
"Oi, my mum never shuts up about 'how perfect we are for each other.'" she joked and Dan immediately changed the subject: "Do you like Rock and Roll music?" he said, remembering some questions from other conversations.  
Carrie giggled at his formal speak, "We call it 'Rock' now, but yeah, I do. Do you?"  
"Like Rock and Roll Music?" he asked,  
"Yeah." she smiled.  
"I've never heard any."  
Her eyes went wide, "What do you listen to then?"  
"Nothing, really. Just classical; I like Tchaikovsky very much, but I'm up for something new."  
"We can listen to some if you'd like."  
"Sure." he said and got out something that he saw in commercials on the TV; it was an iPod Nano with headphones.  
"These go in your ears" she said handing him one.  
"I know, but thank you." he said and she scrolled quickly looking for a song to play.

A song started to play and Dan immediately felt a surge of excitement when the song started. Dan felt happy and then words started:  
_I am an arms dealer_

_Fitting you with weapons in the form of words_

_And don't really care which side wins_

_As long as the room keeps singing_

_That's just the business I'm in, yeah…_

Dan took out the headphone and thanked Carrie for the music after 4 songs.  
"You're so different, Carrie."  
She blushed, "Uh, is that good?"  
"I like different." he said.  
Carrie quickly stood up and told Dan she had to go to do some schoolwork.  
"You could bring it here." he said, but Carrie took off anyway, mumbling quietly.

"Will you come back?" he asked and Carrie shouted a 'yes' that bounced from the high, marble ceilings to the sleek hardwood flooring.  
Dan left the room shortly after, humming to tunes so he wouldn't forget them when his mother came running up to him and talking excitedly:  
"Oh my, Daniel she seems to be the one, I cannot believe it!"  
Dan blushed quickly, "I don't think it's like that; she showed me music."  
"Oh dear, what kind?" his mother asked, completely engaged.  
"Rock and Roll. She says they just call it 'Rock' now."  
"Don't listen to that 'Rock' music; you'll be fine without it. What's her name?"  
"Carrie."  
"Well, she seems to be the one; you spent more than 20 minutes talking to her."  
"I talk to Tamara all the t-" but he stopped himself quickly.  
"That's different" she said disgusted, "She's a servant. You know you can't talk to any other servant, right?"  
"Yes." he said annoyed; he wasn't even allowed to go in the kitchen without getting yelled at. His mother would tell him they were just servant boys and Dan said he wanted to talk to them since they were his age, but his mother still refused.  
"Good." she said and walked to the dining room, her black heels making a 'clink' sound on the floor.  
Dan had gotten away with talking to Tamara because she raised him; his mother was always at work and his father did the same. Tamara would feed him, clean him up, help him with homework, (even though she would say, "Mister, I ain't so smart.".) and teach him the little things in life that his tutor wouldn't.  
Dan's dad came from the dining room and patted him on the back:  
"I've just heard you found 'the one'." he said, laughing heartily.  
"Maybe." Dan said, feeling himself turn red.  
"No need to be coy, son" he said and patted him on the back again. Dan's dad was a tall guy with a thick build; He had curly, gray hair that was usually covered by a cap. He wore brown sweater vests and button-up shirts almost everyday; it was either that or a polo. Slacks covered his muscular legs and leather shoes protected his feet.  
Dan chuckled awkwardly and was about to go to the kitchen, which was forbidden by his mother.  
"Ooh, Mister I wouldn't do that" Tamara snapped.  
Dan spun back around almost immediately, "Oh, right. Sorry, I just want to meet the boys inside. I don't really have a lot of friends."  
"You have that new girl don'tchya?" she asked.  
"H-h-ow did-"  
Tamara chuckled at the nervousness in his voice, "The whole staff has been talkin' 'bout it."  
"Oh, well her name is Carrie" he awkwardly spat, he barely knew about India himself. "I'm going to my room."  
"Okay, Mister. Sorry for snappin' atchya. I wanna keep my job as much as the next girl."  
"It's okay, Tamara." he said, walking to the stairs and in his room he thought about how to ask Carrie to marry him the next time she came. The only reasons girls came to talk to Dan was because they came from rich families, too and they wanted to double their money on both sides. Dan finally found a girl he liked and needed to marry her before she could get away from him . All Dan wanted to do was please his mom; all the piano lessons, the tutor, the art he did, everything was to please her.  
When Dan would be engaged, the celebration ball his mother had waited 18 years to throw would happen. Everyone would dress up, there would be food, and he would re-propose for everyone to see. Everyone would celebrate and dance whilst 50 people would come talk to him at once.  
Dan laid in bed that night, thinking about how he would ask and if she thought it would be too soon. He couldn't sleep and used a pillow to cuddle with in place of her. He wanted her near, he really did like her. He was awake the whole night, thinking about her features which were different from any other girls' he had seen before. The wild blonde curls with different colours intertwined in her braided headband; he never saw any crazy colours in hair before. Most of the girls Dan talked to were boring: brown or black straight hair, makeup filled eyes, and perfect skin; all named things like Mary or Susanna.  
Carrie was different.

The next day, Dan found himself waking up and felt completely horrible; he'd never had a bad sleep before; he got up and put on black skinny jeans with a heather gray, button-up shirt to which he rolled up the sleeves to be a short sleeve shirt. He tucked in his shirt, added a blue belt and put on black Vans.  
His mother waited outside of his room and when he came out, she was holding an engagement ring.  
"I've talked to Carrie's mother" she smiled, "She knows about this and agrees; you two are for each other and since our families are very old tradition; you will propose to her today."  
"Mother, I barely know her."  
"That's okay. That's how it was; your father and I got together like that. Be respectful" she said, handing him the box, "It was your great-grandmother's ring. Once again, tradition."

Dan sighed, nodded, and walked off with the ring. "Getting married after a day is ridiculous. I barely know her! Sure, I like her, but I don't love her! We can't get married" he mumbled walking to the living room, "Whatever, it's not my choice." he said and sat on the blue couch  
He waited for 3 hours, playing with his thumbs like he did the last time and occasionally turning to the piano in the next room, playing things that kept him interested. It was during one of these piano visits that Carrie showed up, in a nice dress like the last one; this one was an ink colour with white buttons that stopped at her waist. The collar was outlined with white and the sleeves puffed up slightly, making the small polka dot design more fun to look at. Her hair was in a long, side braid, with different colours in it, this time she had a couple strands of dark blue and purple. She was carrying books and a bag.  
"Hi" she said, putting the books in the shelves, "I have some donations."  
Dan chuckled and patted the sit next to his when she finished putting them away.  
"Will you stay longer than 20 minutes today?"  
"Yeah, fine." She said, playfully.  
"Carrie, do you like me?"  
Without a hesitation she smiled, "I like you a lot."  
Dan felt a wave of relief. "Me too."  
"Like you, I mean." he chuckled and Carrie giggled,  
"You're very funny, Dan."  
"I don't mean to be."  
Carrie giggled again and Dan blushed, playing with the engagement ring in his pocket.  
"Uh, Carrie I-" he began and his mother walked in.  
"Nice to meet you" she says, smiling.  
Carrie looked at Dan's mother for a second disapprovingly and a million things were running through her mind. His mother wore bright clothes in an attempt to look younger along with her foundation which was caked very heavily; her eyelids usually had purple shadow on them and her lips had a dark colour. Her hair didn't move when she did due to the overdose of hairspray.  
"You too" Carrie replied, mentally scolding herself for judging his mom.

"I'm Laura" she smiled and her darkened teeth showed.  
"Carrie" she smiled back and held out her hand.  
Dan's mother shook her hand strongly and then said she would come back later.  
"So what's in the bag?" he asked when his mother was out of earshot.  
"The instrument I play" she said and pulled out a bright green instrument that resembled a small guitar.  
"A miniature guitar!" he exclaimed.  
"No," she chuckled, "I get that alot; It's a ukulele."  
Dan look at Carrie, slightly confused.  
She then explained, "A guitar has six strings; a ukulele has four."  
Dan nodded, "Can you play it?"  
"Of course."  
"Will you play something?"  
A fast tune started and Dan watched her fingers move from fret to fret and how the positions of them changed constantly. The strings were vibrating rapidly as her pick brushed against them with a certain pattern.  
Dan was in a trance of it and when it stopped, he took a second before applauding. Carrie then turned a rosy pink, "Thanks."  
"Will you teach me something?"  
"You don't think it's boring?" she asked.  
"Of course not." he shot back.  
"Uh okay."  
Carrie handed him the ukulele and sat closer to him on his right.  
"Okay so these are frets" she said pointing in between the silver lines on the longest part of the ukulele.  
"And these are strings" then she strummed.

"Okay now I'm going to invade your personal space for, like, a little." she said and sat even closer so their thighs were touching.  
"So this is the note 'C'" she said and placed his fingers the right way.  
"'Kay now strum" she said and Dan reluctantly brushed his fingers across the strings, unsure of the sound it would make.  
The sound was pleasing and Carrie showed him more notes and he played them, too.  
"This is a 'G'", she said her hand over his and putting his fingers in the right places, "It feels kind of weird at first." Dan chuckled and nodded in agreement. She looked up at him and he did the same,  
This is it, Dan thought, I'll kiss her.  
He leaned in and she did, too. Everything was slow for a second and then Carrie quickly looked back at the ukulele, very red.  
"So this is a C sharp minor.." she continued.  
After his ukulele lesson, Dan and Carrie sat just as close as before without moving and unsure what to say. Dan broke the silence:  
"Do you want to see the rest of my home?"  
"Sure."  
Dan led Carrie to the garden with his pinky clinging onto hers, where flowers surrounded a mossy cobblestone path to a swinging bench where two navy blue cushions waited; different fruits and vegetables grew in the rest of the empty space to the left of the benches. They were in a mixed rainbow, where Ursula (their gardener) was picking ripe vegetables. One small open area full of green grass was occupied by two chihuahuas playing with each other and a small yip escaped their mouths. Dan felt himself go red as he asked Carrie to take a seat on the swinging bench.  
"This place is really nice." she said, looking at everything in great detail.  
"Thank you, Carrie." Dan said, with his hand in his pocket as he joined her on the other cushion.  
Carrie looked so golden in the sunlight and she closed her eyes, letting the rays soak in as she sat with her knees to her chest. She looked like she became one with the air and the grass and felt the total serenity sink in. Dan tried to mimic her and found it difficult to focus on one thing; the feeling of the sun on his light skin, his brown curls getting hotter, India's presence, the occasional 'yip!'.  
Dan opened his eyes and became dizzy for a second as the little dots of color came into focus.  
"Carrie?"

Carrie opened her eyes and looked towards Dan in a dreamy state,  
"Yes?"  
Dan got off the bench and got on one knee, looking at Carrie like she was the most beautiful girl in the world. He felt his throat get clogged and he cleared his throat,  
"Will you-" he began in cracked tones and tears as he opened the little velvet box with a vintage ring inside.  
"-be my wife?" he managed to finish.  
Carrie smiled and her teeth showed through her red lipstick as she nodded. Dan felt awkward for a moment, unsure what to do next and his instinct told him to get up.  
When he did, Carrie ran into his arms and Dan wrapped his arms around her and he felt so big in comparison to her 5'6" body. He felt as he needed to lift her up a little and when he did, she leaned in and Dan did without a hesitation. His lips felt Carrie's and they tasted like strawberries; he followed her soft lips and Dan felt her smile.  
As they broke away, Dan thought about how he didn't want it to end and she giggled,  
"Oh wow, look at the time" she said quickly and gave Dan a hug, "I'll have to see you later. 'Bye!"  
"Goodbye." Dan said and sat on the bench with a grin that was impossible to get rid of.


End file.
